Events
at Sea by Disney Cruise Line
The
events listed have been reported in the public domain or to
cruisejunkie by passengers or crew members onboard. The list is
by no
means comprehensive. For that reason it is necessary to be
cautious in
drawing conclusions from the potentially limited data. Keep in
mind
that some companies may be more transparent than others about things
that go wrong; conversely, some companies may be better at concealing
events and thereby project an appearance that is inaccurate. With
that
said, the following list is still interesting, as are the patterns seen
viewed separately by ship.

Date

Ship

2013

Incident

March 30

Disney Fantasy

Orlando Sentinel reports a 4-year-old boy was pulled from a pool and airlifted to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando on Saturday, authorities said. Brevard County and Disney rescue workers responded to the ship about 3:30 p.m. EDT for a potential drowning at the family pool, one of three pools onboard, officials said. The family had just boarded for a seven-day cruise to the western Caribbean. Port Canaveral police found the boy “in distress” at the pool, spokeswoman Rosalind Harvey said. He was taken by ambulance to Cape Canaveral Hospital and later flown by medical helicopter to Orlando, she said. He had a pulse at the time, but his condition was unknown late Saturday. Witnesses said on online Disney message boards that the child’s parents were not in the pool when the accident happened but ran over while emergency rescuers worked on him. “They both nearly collapsed,” one witness wrote. The parents and two other children left the ship in their bathing suits as they boy was being removed, witnesses said. There are no lifeguards on the ship, and signs at the pool indicate this, Langley said. The cruise left port 45 minutes late at 5:45 p.m.

The Consumerist reports a passenger had dropped their 3-year-old son off at an on-ship childcare facility, where each youngster was fitted with an electronic wristband tracking system that should alert staff if the child wanders off and then help pinpoint the kid’s position on the ship. When he returned a bit later to pick his son up, he was nowhere to be found. The passenger went from room to room, but to no avail. He spoke to the day care staff and asked about the process of searching for a missing child. “He said the next step was to check the tracking band system, which would pinpoint my son’s location ... We walked over to the computer and as they pulled it up, everyone got very quiet. The screen showed my son’s band as ‘UNREADABLE’!!!.” The child was found an hour later. The Cruise Director asked what could be done to make up for the incident. The passengers wrote the Director a note requesting a refund. The Director promised them that someone from Disney’s corporate office would contact them, and shortly after returning from the cruise, a rep called. She said that Disney could not offer a refund, but could give the family a two-day Disney World park-pass with limited access. Read more at The Consumerist.

Child misplaced on ship

January 22

Disney Dream

NBC News reports a woman was arrested because of a bill she didn't pay 22 years ago and to make matters worse, she's also been stuck in jail for the last four days. She shoplifted cigarettes from a Wal-Mart back in 1991. For that she owes the state $85. The 22-year-old crime followed the Connecticut native to Port Canaveral, Florida Thursday where she, her husband and two kids were wrapping up a vacation. The family had been aboard the ship and Brevard County police officers were waiting for her as she left the boat. Police said the woman failed to pay the $85 in court costs when she was 18 and when they checked the ship's passenger list for terrorists, they found a warrant for her. NOTE: This is not posted to pick on Disney -- it is meant to remind folks that it is not uncommon for passengers to be arrested on outstanding warrants when they re-enter the US from a cruise ship (any ship).

Arrested when coming ashore

Date

Ship

2012

Incident

August 20

Disney Magic

The Mirror reports crew snort what appear to be lines of cocaine on their breaks. A whistleblower insisted the substance pictured was cocaine – and also claimed wild parties and casual sex were the norm for workers on the ship. A former worker said: “It’s all very family-friendly. On deck, you have people in Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck outfits performing tricks. But downstairs, staff are sniffing coke. So many people are doing it, it’s an open secret. People even do it during their shift. Staff work very long hours and it’s their only release.” The company is investigating the crew member's claims.

Drug use by crew

May 24

Disney Wonder

Yahoo News reports that Katy McCaffrey had her phone stolen while taking part in a Disney Cruise Line vacation. The pictures being automatically uploaded from her iPhone appear to show a Disney Cruise employee named "Nelson" in various poses using the phone's camera. So McCaffrey contacted Disney but not before posting the pictures to a hilarious Facebook page she's entitled, "Stolen iPhone Adventures." "It was stolen on board the Disney Wonder cruiseline back in April. His photos are just making it to my photostream," she writes on the page. McCaffrey has also written her own captions for "Nelson's" photos, including: [H]ere's a beautiful sunset Nelson had time to capture, all on my stolen iPhone." And now, New York Magazine reports that Disney has confiscated the allegedly stolen iPhone and placed "Nelson" on leave while they investigate the incident.

Stolen iPhone

February 5

Disney Dream

There were multiple reports that that shortly after the ship pulled out of Port Canaveral and was halfway down the channel it turned around and went back to the pier. It was met by ambulances and firetrucks. It appears there was some sort of medical emergency.

Delayed

Datye

Ship

2011

Incident

December 28

Disney Fantasy

USA Today reports security has been increased at a German shipyard after a mysterious water-valve leak caused damage to the 2,500-passenger Disney Fantasy, under construction at Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany. According to the shipyard, access to the ship was restricte after the incident, which occurred earlier this month. The damage will not impact delivery dates, officials said. While local media reported the ship had been damaged to the tune of $1.2 million, Disney spokeswoman Rebecca Peddle says that's an exaggeration. "There was some water damage that resulted in them having to replace some carpeting. It was not significant," she says. Peddle adds most of the damage has already been repaired. The ship nears completion; delivery is in February and the ship is set to debut from Port Canaveral in March.

Vandalism

December 15

Disney Magic

From a passenger: On Sunday December 4th at approximately 4 PM, there was a power outage. For around 5 to 10 minutes nothing works on the ship, no motor vibration, nothing...Scary. It was very windy and it was a rough sea. Electrical power was restored but no propulsion of any kind. More than 90 min past before the propulsion was restored. We were late to our first port of call St Marteen.
After that, on Wednesday December 7th, first there was no condiment at the Pluto's Dog House (burger grill) like at the beginning of the cruise. We were not able to serve our self at the Topsider Buffet and there was no dip for the bread at all 3 main dining rooms for the rest of the trip. Our server said to us that there is an outbreak (illness) ... Many people were sick, even in the dining room...

USA Today reports both ships were scheduled to leave Port Canaveral Sunday night, but chose to overnight at the dock instead of risk the weather. The Sensation departed this morning at 8 a.m. without incident; Disney Dream delayed its Sunday evening departure until 4:30 a.m. Monday when the weather had calmed. The line said the ship will visit all its planned ports, but in a different order before returning as scheduled.

Delayed departure

March 24

Disney Wonder

From a crew member: Two days ago one of the youth activities counselors apparently went over board. It was at 3 am. They are still searching the ship without any news about her. The disappearance was subsequently reported by News in Orlando. They report the crew member is believed to have gone missing Tuesday from the cruise ship, which is in the middle of a 7-day cruise. On Tuesday the ship was at sea. UPDATE: BBC News reports the 24 year old woman's parents theard from her the day befoe she went missing. They say "She sent me a message on the Monday and she was going to ring me on the Tuesday, and that's when she disappeared."

Crew member overboard

February 15

Disney Dream

According to USA Today a huge fire in Nassau Monday morning delayed cruise ship passengers from disembarking, but did not otherwise impact operations. According to the Nassau Guardian, the blaze destroyed about seven buildings in downtown Nassau on Bay Street, very close to the cruise port, shutting down the city center. The report said no injuries had been reported due to the fire. Disney Cruise Line said the ship would stay in Nassau later than scheduled Monday evening after debarkation that morning was delayed due to the fire. The cruise line said it it postponed debarkation until local authorities deemed the fire to be under control. Disney said it has not made any changes to future itineraries. Carnival Cruise Lines also said that the Carnival Glory's debarkation was delayed for "a short while" due to the fire, but that guests were able to otherwise debark normally.

Delayed debarkation

February 11

Disney Wonder

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports A Rochester man was sentenced to 46 months in prison for abusive sexual contact, the U.S. Attorneys Office announced today. The 25 year old man admitted that on Jan. 1, 2007, while on the ship leaving Port Canaveral, Fla., to the Caribbean, he knowingly engaged in sexual contact with a 13-year-old. He placed the minor in fear that she would be subjected to serious bodily injury. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,667 for abusive sexual contact on the high seas. The minor and her family boarded the ship on Dec. 31, 2006. That evening, the minor went to the ship’s teen club with some other youngsters she met. After the club closed, the man approached them and ordered them to return to their rooms. He told the victim to follow him and she did, believing him to be a security officer with the cruise ship. After the defendant led her to the rear of the ship, where no other people were around, he engaged in sexual contact with the minor.

UPI reports a YouTube post showed a Disney cruise ship drifting close to another ship in Orlando, FL.. Disney Cruise Lines officials said their ship was never in danger of hitting the Royal Caribbean ship on Jan. 17. "Yes, we are aware of the incident. Monarch of the Seas was anchored and the Disney ship casted off and drifted close to our vessel," said Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez. Disney officials said the ships never were closer together than between 20 and 30 feet, but a Royal Caribbean crew member said the Disney ship missed hitting the Monarch by only a couple of feet.

Near miss?

January 25

Disney Wonder

Concerns about security in Mazatlán following three street-crime incidents near the cruise terminal have prompted Disney Wonder to drop calls through April, the end of its season, and Oosterdam to skip this week’s visit, accoridng to port general director Alfonso Gil Díaz. More cruise cancellations may be in store.

Canceling port calls

dd/mm/yy

Ship

2010

Incident

27.9.10

Disney Wonder

The Democrat and Chronicle reports a 25 year old Rochester man has pleaded guilty in federal court to sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl on the ship. He pleaded guilty to abusive sexual contact on the high seas, a felony that carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. He admitted engaging in sexual conduct with the girl on Jan. 1, 2007, on board the Disney Cruise Line ship “Disney Wonder” after it left Port Canaveral, Fla. for a cruise in the Caribbean. A criminal complaint alleged that he encountered the girl as she left a teen club on ship and ordered her to accompany him. The girl, who said she believed he was a security officer, followed him to the rear of the ship, where she was assaulted. He admitted to federal agents that he had sexual contact with the girl but said it was consensual and said he believed the girl was 17.

Pleads guilty to sexual assault of minor

15.2.10

Disney Magic

The Daily
Herald reports the ship's port call at Sint Maarten on Tuesday has
been cancelled because of sea conditions. That may be the case, however
it is also not unlikely that the ship's delayed departure from Port
Canaaveral (see February 13 below) is responsible for the change in
itinerary.

Cancelled port call

13.2.10

Disney Magic

Florida
Today reports gale force winds have prevented the ship from
returning home from the Bahamas this morning, leaving other anxious
travelers stranded at Port Canaveral. The ship was due for docking
early this morning, but now won't be back at port at least until late
this evening or Sunday morning. WInds and high seas prevented the ship
from leaving Castaway Cay (the ship's private island). The ship will
have to cruise into the northwesterly wind on its journey back to the
U.S. It is expected to take 13 hours to reach Port Canaveral. The delay
impacts thousands of people, including those already on the ship, and
the thousands more who were set to head out Saturday afternoon on the
ship's next seven-day cruise.

Delayed disembarkation /
embarkation

11.1.10

Disney Wonder

A poster at Cruise
Critic writes: Me, the hubby and three kids set sail 1-7-10
for a three day Bahamas on Disney Wonder. By midnight the second night,
our 13 year old was sick and about 16 hours later it hit the 11 year
old. Ship doctor said "GI" infection and gave us anti-nausea meds, he
was cranky and rude (which is unacceptable when dealing with sick
children). In his defense, however, I quickly discovered why. I'll bet
he and his staff were up all night dealing with sick people. By the
second morning, after the first kid got sick, all buffet stations were
no longer self-serve. Even the beverage stations on deck were roped off
and crew members were handing drinks to people.

Illness

dd/mm/yy

Ship

2009

Incident

26.11.09

Disney Wonder

The Sun Sentinel reports while in transit from St Thomas, USVI to the Bahamas with four of the five main diesel generators on line, the ship suffered a failure of the number one main diesel generator, more specifically, their was a short circuit in the alternator winding causing a shutdown of the number one generator and a release of internal combustion gas and smoke from the cylinder head relief valves. The voltage drop resulting from the shutdown of the number one generator caused under voltage shutdowns of the numbers two, four, and five main generators fuel pumps. The shutdown of the fuel pumps starved the two, four, and five generators of fuel subsequently causing a shutdown of those generators. The shutdown of the generators resulted in a loss of main electrical power and propulsion throughout the ship, a blackout, and the ship became adrift. The ships transitional power operated as designed and the emergency generator started automatically and supplied all emergency circuits while the other generators were brought back on line and main power and propulsion was restored. Of note, the ships voyage data recorder, an instrument designed and installed to help assist in post casualty analysis and investigation failed to operate on its back up power supply when the ship blacked out. Full power and propulsion was restored approximately 45 minutes after the casualty occurred and the ship resumed normal operation. The number one generator winding failure required rewinding of the generator at a cost of approximately $1,000,000.

Loss of power

21.11.09

Disney Wonder

The Nassau Guardian reports two armed men ambushed and robbed a group of 17 tourists on tour in Nassau yesterday. According to police, the visitors were on tour at Earth Village, Dunmore Street, in Chippingham just before 1 p.m. with a tour guide when two men armed with shotguns accosted them. The Bahamian man leading the tour was tied up and the tourists were ordered to the ground and robbed of cash, passports, cell phones, credit cards and personal items, said police. While this group of visitors was being robbed, another group of tourists came on the scene and they too were robbed. Shortly after this incident, a 43-year-old Canadian man visiting downtown Nassau along with his brother had his wallet snatched while walking on Bay Street near Navy Lion Road. Three officers from the Tourism Patrol Unit gave chase and arrested the 49-year-old man police suspect was responsible for the theft.

Pax robbed onshore

18.11.09

Disney Magic

From a passenger:We have just returned from a Disney Cruise. On our day in Cozumel, Nov 18th, five Disney employees, celebrating the end of their contracts from Animal Kingdom, rented a dune buggy or Jeep ( not part of a shore excursion) and were in an accident. Two were killed and three hospitalized. The 6th person in their party had decided to take a cruise endorsed shore excursion. UPDATE:The incident was subsequently reported by Tampa media and discussed on a board focused on Cozumel. This what was said: There was a really bad accident on Thursday around 2:30 PM at the entrance to the San Gervasio ruins where a red and yellow Jeep Polar from Executive Car Rental collided and two people were killed. It appears that one vehicle, traveling at an undetermined speed was coming out of the ruins when it was hit by other other jeep which was reported to be travelling at 120 kilometers/hour (75 mph!) at the time of the crash. Because both jeeps were overloaded, some of the cruise passengers were hurled from the vehicles while others remained twisted in the wreckage. One 21 year old woman died at the scene and at least four were transported to nearby hospitals in grave condition and where one of them later died. The driver of the second car has been taken into custody.

Pax deaths onshore

dd/mm/yy

Ship

2008

Incident

1.9.08

Disney Magic

From a passenger:Hi...just got off the 15 day
cruise from LA to Orlando, through the Panama Canal. Great cruise!!
About 6 nights ago, however, there was a "Bright Star" call over the
ship's PA directing crew to "deck 4 midship". When I asked a crew
member what this meant, they sort of shrugged it off. I asked our room
purser the following day and he told me that someone had tried to "jump
off the ship from deck 4". The person was stopped and taken off the
boat the following day while at port in Aruba. Also...when we docked,
the boat wasn't cleared by US customs for a about 3 hours while they
searched for a single missing foreign born passenger on the ship.
Otherwise...great trip on a great cruise line!

Delayed disembarkation

8.3.08

Disney Magic

According to a poster at DisBoards,
the ship is experiencing propulsion problems which are affecting
arrival times in port and are also affecting how smoothly the ship
cruises. Passengers were apparently given an onboard credit of $100
because of the problem.

Engine problems

dd/mm/yy

Ship

2007

Incident

7.4.07

Disney Magic

The ship was reportedly late in departing for its seven day
cruise to Key West, Georgetown, Cozumel, and Castaway Cay. Local
TV contained a lead
story that the ship was held over and evacuated, as well as the
terminal, when dogs sniffed out a suspicious package addressed to a
crew member. The package turned out to contain repair parts for his
computer. The ship left that night and apparently kept to its original
itinerary..

Security issue

14.2.07

Disney Magic

From a passenger (posted at Disboards): While
doing the fireworks during the Pirates in the Caribbean deck party,
there was an emergency code red call to the rear of the boat. My
husband went to look and discovered that there was a misfire on the
fireworks and appeared to be a fire by Palo restaurant. I am trying to
find out more, and will post more later ... Here's what happened
with the fireworks -- about 1/4 of the way through one misfired
and hit the side of the ship.
The next one misfired and landed right next to palo's and started a
fire. That set off the fire sprinklers on deck 10 aft. Our assistant
server is part of the fire team. He said it was a HUGE mess because the
Captain sent everyone to the Pirate buffet instead of Palo's ...
The captain then sent everyone to
the right place and everything seems ok. All brunch's at Palo's today
were cancelled, but dinner's were ok. The were no reports
of injury.

Small fire

2.1.07

Disney Wonder

A 21 year old male passenger from New York was arrested in
the Bahamas after allegedly sexually assaulting a 13 year old girl
onboard the ship. The ship was on a four-day New Year's cruise
from Port Canaveral to Nassau return.

Sexual Offense (Pax on
Pax)

dd/mm/yy

Ship

2006 and earlier

Incident

1.9.06

Disney Wonder

A ship employee (food and beverage department) was arrested
by Brevard County sheriff's
deputies after exposing himself to three women while on the ship.
Disney fired the worker and he is likely to be deported to Turkey.

Sexual Offense

22.3.06

Disney Wonder

The parents of a girl have filed suit against Disney Cruise
Line after their daughter was allegedly sexually assaulted by a crew
member while on the October 2, 2005 cruise from Port Canaveral.
The suit "alleges the crew member 'falsely imprisoned, sexually
assaulted, exposed himself to, and intentionally inflicted emotional
distress.'" See the Orlando
Sentinel for more.

Sexual assault

8.10.05

Disney Wonder

A girl under the age of 18 said a member if the ship's crew
exposed himself to her while the ship was in port in the Bahamas this
week. The crew member was kept separate from passengers for the
remainder of the cruise and was suspended when the ship returned to
Florida. The incident is being investigated in the Bahamas, which
is where it occured. (NOTE: Thanks to Disney for reporting this
incident at their website rather than trying to keep it hidden.)

Indecent exposure

13.12.02

Disney Magic

Reported that 25 passengers contracted a gastrointestinal
illness during the current cruise.

Illness

30.11.02

Disney Magic

Reported that at least 174 passengers (6.98%) and 23
crewmembers (1.72%) on
the one-week cruise ending today had contracted a "flu-like illness" --
most likely Norwalk-like virus. Next cruise cruise cancelled for thorough cleaning of ship

Illness
- Cancellation

22.11.02

Disney Magic

As many as 275 passengers and
crew were affected by Norwalk-like virus.

Illness

4-8.8.02

Disney Wonder

A
crew member came down with German measles (rubella) during this cruise.
Rubella can cause birth defects in pregnant women, particularly
in the first trimester before many women are aware that they are
pregnant. Children under 15 months and people with suppressed
immune systems are also at high risk. Citing the
potential cost, the cruise industry in 1998 essentially ignored CDC
recommendations to administer rubella vaccine to all crew without
documented immunity.

Illness

14.3.02

Disney
Magic

Smoke
stack fire; extinguished within an hour. Passengers were awakened
at 5:00 AM and told to go to their assembly stations with their life
jackets. Arrives at next destination 1.5 hours late.

Fire

22.11.02

Disney Magic

As many as 200 passengers became ill from shrimp that was
suspected of having bacterial contamination.